Adding shock towers to beam

[Firehawk]

I am going to add shock towers back to the beam on my 64. The PO cut them off when he narrowed the beam. I was wondering if anyone has some pics of towers they have added. I have a few fab ideas in my head but figured Id look for input from some that have already done it, no sense reinventing the wheel.
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IAFF local 2164

1964 Bug
'70 Ghia coupe(sold)

[dbelkhart]

I'm considering this as well for my 67. It rides fine without them but I wanted to put them back on for peace of mind.
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Banging on all four cylinders....

[smitty24]

How narrow is the beam? I personally have made drawings in the past with a few different styles of narrowed beams and how to add shocks back to them. One design was a bolt on shackle that would then be welded after it was in place. Another design mounted to the uprights. Most of the designs would require the beam to be completely free of grease (and bushings removed) to weld anything to it. A beam that is too narrow would require massive engineering to get towers to properly work down there. The only other option is to cut the body up front, then weld plate back in. Welding brackets to the actual inner wings has been done (I have personally tried it) but it is not good for long time use. There are many ways to do it...none easy or fast. Sorry, but I won't post pics on here.

One of my designs uses towers from Daryl at Bugzylla in Mesa. He sells different height towers on his site that can be made to work. As with any tower on a narrowed beam, the goal is to bring the tower out just enough to clear the upper body, allow proper shock function and not bind on the trailing arm. Also, line up with the bolt on the bottom trailing arm.
You say you have a few ideas--Id try one or two out! As long as your weld works and the brackets dont flex, it should work.

[Firehawk]

My beam is narrowed 4 inches. It puts the old shock tower mount pretty much straight under the pinch weld on the inner part of the apron. It looks like the outer part of the beam (where the bushings are) is just inside the fender well. My thoughts are to either cut towers off an old beam or use 1/4 inch plate and make my own. It looks like I have room to weld them to the outer part of the beam. I tried to mock it up with cardboard today and the 1/4 inch plate may work. These are just my ideas, I figured there were a few works/doesnt work projects here.
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IAFF local 2164

1964 Bug
'70 Ghia coupe(sold)

[smitty24]

With your beam, I would weld some plate or bar stock above the tube area where the tower used to be, a piece of bar stock wide enough to come out just far enough to clear the bottom of the body, then weld the top 60% or so of a new tower (plate) to the side of the bar stock. It would be plenty strong if done correctly. This method would be more for a stock beam with stock tower cut off, but with some meat above the top tube remaining.

If the PO cut the beam real bad at the old towers, I would build a jig to keep the tubes true as possible. Cut the old remains off--slide and weld the bottom 40% of a new tower onto the tubes. This method would be for a completely rounded top tube with no meat remaining from a tower that has been cut off.

Either way, I would not use stock tower on a 4" beam. You want the thin plate stuff on there if you want shocks. My 2" CB beam even has the thin stuff, and that is even tight to the body.

[Firehawk]

I think we are on the same page. I dont think there is any room to back it with anything as it it pretty close to the inner fender. Like I said the old mounts are directly under the edge of the inner fender. I was thinking of cutting my 1/4 plate to slide over the outside of the beam where the factory tubes are welded. Just in from the bushings. Then weld in. The outside of that part (the verticle part that is welded to the tubes where the old shock tower was a part of) is just inside the fenderwell. The PO did a very nice clean job cutting the old towers off. You can hardly tell they were cut. Is this a new endeavor?
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IAFF local 2164

1964 Bug
'70 Ghia coupe(sold)

[smitty24]

No, quite a few guys have had to do this. In Europe, I read up on guys and their suspension mods. Most of them CANNOT RUN SHOCKLESS by law. Check out this guys mods= http://www.oldbug.com/spearn.htm

(the picture toward the bottom of his top shock area)

or Oldspeed's= which is pretty well built as well=

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4982259

[Firehawk]

Those are the pics I was after. It looks like my 1/4 plate idea is going to work. Last question, does anyone have a stock measurement from the lower shock bolt to the upper shock bolt?
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IAFF local 2164

1964 Bug
'70 Ghia coupe(sold)

[smitty24]

[Firehawk]

Yea after I reread that it doesnt make any sense. I think a better measurement would be from the center of the top beam bushing to the center of the bolt on the tower.
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IAFF local 2164

1964 Bug
'70 Ghia coupe(sold)

[03hdfatboy]

I too would like to add towers to my 4” narrowed beam or replace it
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Early 1964 1835cc, single Dellorto 40 carb. Freeway flyer transaxle from Don's bus box. Replacing 4” narrowed Shockless front beam is my next project.